Highlights from this month's Higher Education Digest include:
- TEF
- LEO
- DLHE
- Queen's Speech
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
1. The first results of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) were announced on 22 June. The TEF results are determined by a series of metrics in the area of teaching quality, learning environment and student outcomes, accompanied by a submission from each university. Overall across the sector, 26% of providers were rated Gold, 50% Silver and 24% Bronze. Amongst the 24 Russell Group Universities, the two from Scotland and one from Northern Ireland did not take part and of the remaining 21, there were 8 rated Gold, 10 rated Silver and 3 Bronze. The University of Southampton was rated Bronze.
Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) data
2. The Government has published data on longitudinal educational outcomes, which looks at the average salaries of graduate 1, 3 and 5 years after graduation, broken down by course and by HEI, as well as by gender. For the sector as a whole, findings show:
- The five subjects whose graduates earn the most five years after graduation are medicine & dentistry, veterinary science, economics, engineering & technology, and maths. The five whose graduates earn the least are creative arts & design, agriculture, mass communications & documentation, psychology and history.
- The subjects whose graduates are most likely to be in sustained employment five years after graduating are nursing, psychology, architecture, medicine & dentistry, and biological sciences.
- Average salaries for men are higher than for women graduating in all subjects except English.
- For many subjects those studying at Russell Group universities attract higher salaries but there is considerable variation.
DLHE results
3. The results of the annual Destinations of Leavers of Higher Education (DLHE) survey were published on 29 June. Some of the key findings included:
- The percentage of those in further study has risen to 15% - with the largest percentages for those studying law, physical sciences and history.
- 67% are in UK work, a 1% drop
- 5% were unemployed.
- There is a £1000 median gender pay gap for those in professional jobs, with a negligible gender pay gap in non-professional roles. This has been steady over the last 5 years.
4. HESA have also published details of the replacement to DLHE, now called Graduate Outcomes , which has been developed following a two year consultation. The first Graduate Outcomes survey will launch in December 2018, and will survey graduates around 15 months after graduation.
Post-Election – Queen’s Speech and Ministerial appointments
5. Following the general election on June 8th, the Queen’s Speech did not include commitments in the Conservative Party Manifesto of relevance to universities, such as the expansion of grammar schools, the requirements for universities to sponsor schools, and a major review of tertiary education funding. There was an announcement on reforming technical education, and a recommitment to the Industrial Strategy.
6. Many of the key ministers in Higher Education have been reappointed. These include Jo Johnson as Universities and Science Minister, Justine Greening as Secretary of State for Education and Greg Clarke as Secretary of State for Business. Gordon Marsden retains the shadow HE brief for Labour.
EU27 Citizens
7. In June, the Home Office published draft plans for the rights of citizens from other EU countries (“EU27” countries) following Brexit. This is a key issue for universities given the significant number of EU27 staff and students. Key elements of the proposals include:
- A new permanent residence status for EU27 citizens who have been in the UK 55 years or more. This will need to be applied for, and there will be a charge.
- Those who have resided for less than 5 years will be able to apply for temporary status to cover them up until they have been here 5 years.
- Those with settled status will have access to the same benefit and services as UK citizens
- The offer is conditional on a similar deal for UK citizens living in EU27 countries
QS World Rankings
8. On 8 June, the QS World University Rankings 2018 were released. The top 5 Universities in this global ranking were MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Caltech and Cambridge. The top 5 UK universities were Cambridge (5th), Oxford (6th), UCL (7th), Imperial (8th), with Kings and Edinburgh both at =23rd. The University of Southampton was =102nd, which was the 18th UK university in the list.
Student Academic Experience Report
9. On 7 June, the Higher Education Academy and the HE Policy Institute published the results of their annual Student Academic Experience Survey . Some of the key results include:
- A decline in the perceived value for money (35% rate good or very good, compared with 53% in 2012)
- Only 20% of students think their university has provided enough information on how fees are spent.
- 25% of students think the experience was better than expected, 13% worse, with 51% saying it’s better in some ways and worse in others.
- 34% would definitely or possibly have chosen another course if they had known at the time what they know now.
- Perceptions of the quality of teaching staff are increasing.
OFFA – Outcomes of Access Agreements
10. On 29 June, the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) published the outcomes of access agreement monitoring for 2015-16. The report shows:
- £725M was invested by universities through Access Agreements (£278M to support fair access, and £447M on financial support).
- Positive progress has been made on 82% of the targets universities have set themselves.
- For high level outcome targets, 75% made progress on access targets, 73% on student success targets and 85% on targets for progression to further study or employment.
Universities UK – Survey on student attitudes
11. Universities UK published the results of survey on student attitudes. Key results include:
- 47% see themselves as a customer of their university.
- 79% value the relationship with their university, and 87% say their university treats students fairly.
- 80% say personalised advice and support are among the top things they want from their university.
- Student perceptions of value for money are based on what they expect to get out of their studies, particularly employment, as well as their personal experience of studying.
Universities UK – Priorities for Brexit Negotiations
12. Universities UK published a briefing on 17 June on Brexit priorities for UK universities. The key priorities they set out are:
- Agree the residency and work rights for EU nationals currently working in the university sector, and their dependents, including full access to public services;
- Secure continued UK participation in the EU's research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 until the end of the programme;
- Negotiate UK access to, and influence over, the Framework Programme 9 – the next research and innovation programme – ensuring it maintains a focus on excellence;
- Secure continued access to Erasmus+ and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions mobility programmes;
- Preserve and build on regulatory and standards equivalence with other EU Countries, including continued recognition of professional qualifications between the UK and EU member states.
Gavin Costigan
Director, Public Policy|Southampton